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"                      <p class=\"imgtitle\">Doug Wojcieszak</p>           <i>Doug Wojcieszak heads a Metro-East advocacy group, Victims and Families United, which did not favor tort reform initiatives introduced recently in the Illinois state legislature. Wojcieszak is a former policy director for the Illinois House Republican organization. </i><br /><br /><b>Q: Human error occurs regularly in all areas of life. How do you correct a medical system in which doctors rely more on tests and less on clinical experience for fear of being sued?</b><br /><br />A: Restore communication and trust between doctors and patients and fix the fundamental system problems in medicine. Our medical system is world renowned for break-through technologies and superbly trained physicians, but we have let many basic processes slip, which has led to many medical errors and preventable injuries and deaths.   <br /><br />Physicians are not trained to deal with these errors, which produces many lawsuits. Sorry Works! fixes the process from the ground up.  By acknowledging errors and communicating in a humane way to patients and families, doctors dramatically reduce the chance of being sued. And by talking openly about errors, physicians have a better chance of fixing the system flaws so the errors don&rsquo;t happen again.  <br /><br />If people sincerely want to fix the medical crisis, Sorry Works! is the way to do it.  <br /> <br /><b>Q: What went wrong in the last Illinois General Assembly in which the legislature failed to take action on the medical malpractice issue?</b><br /><br />A:  On the trial bar/Democratic side I believe many people were reluctant to budge because they believe this insurance crisis will self-correct. After all, every 10 years or so we see this flux from &ldquo;hard&rdquo; to &ldquo;soft&rdquo; insurance markets, and there is good reason to believe we are starting to go back to a &ldquo;soft&rdquo; market. <br /><br />On the tort reform/GOP side, I think many of my former colleagues will admit that they had a great campaign issue and were not going to let a legislative solution take away their political weapon.  <br /><br /><b>Q: Would your group support legislation aimed at establishing a separate court to adjudicate medical malpractice cases?</b>  <br /> <br />A:  It&rsquo;s not really on our radar screen. Whether you have a new, separate medical court or try to tinker with the current system, you&rsquo;re not really getting to the important, underlying issues in the medical malpractice crisis. The most important issues in the med-mal debate are restoring communication and trust between medical providers and patients and fixing the system flaws. No other plan does this better than Sorry Works!<br /><br /><b>Q: What issues are under-reported on this subject? Over-reported?</b><br /><br /> A: I think the role of defense lawyers in the medical malpractice crisis is grossly under-reported. Everyone is so quick to beat up plaintiffs&rsquo; lawyers for making large fees, but they are giving a pass to the defense lawyers who needlessly stretch out cases to rack up billable hours. <br /><br />Frivolous lawsuits? Try frivolous defenses!   <br /><br />We have had more than one doctor tell us about a case that they wanted to settle quickly only to have a defense lawyer step in the way, cut off communication with the family, and rack up huge legal fees while turning doctors and patients into enemies. It&rsquo;s not right. Sorry Works! addresses this problem.  <br /><br />In the category of over-reported, I believe the media has over-reported (and incorrectly so) that lawyers are solely responsible for medical malpractice lawsuits. A lawyer can&rsquo;t file a lawsuit without an angry patient or family. Anger - not greed - is what drives med-mal lawsuits. Sorry Works! dispels the anger and that&rsquo;s why it works.   <br /><br /> <b>Q: What concessions need to be made within the medical and insurance industries as well as the plaintiff&rsquo;s bar?</b><br /><br /> A:  I think this is the tough part - no one really wants to make major concessions. And this is why we are pushing Sorry Works! so hard because no side has to make a concession with this program.  <br />Medical lawsuits are reduced as are settlement and liability costs, but more victims receive justice in a quick fashion, constitutional rights are NOT limited, and medical errors are reduced.  <br /><br />Sorry Works! is the &ldquo;middle ground&rdquo; solution that provides what all stakeholders in the debate want most.  <br /><br /><b>Q: Over time, what net effect will the election of Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier have on Illinois?</b><br /><br /> A:  There is no question Karmeier has the opportunity to change the judiciary in the 5th district through appointments.  <br /><br />However, the biggest change we may see from Karmeier&rsquo;s election is the way we choose our judges. Karmeier himself has said he was disturbed by the campaign process. He should be.  <br /><br />For years we have heard tort reformers complain about the trial bar &ldquo;buying&rdquo; judges. So what did the tort reformers do? They went out and bought their own judge. Karmeier&rsquo;s campaign disclosure reports are a laundry list of Fortune 500 companies.   <br /><br />If Karmeier is to maintain his image as an ethical judge, he will have to recuse himself from countless cases involving his contributors. This system is flawed.  <br />"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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